


Different Strings

by hkittycat



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: F/M, M/M, anyways it's 3 am and i hate doing tags so we're done here, first chapter uses female pronouns for reader, he needs help, the main conflict is ral vs his feelings, the second chapter is the same story but with the reader having male pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 14:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16139609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hkittycat/pseuds/hkittycat
Summary: "different eyes see different things, different hearts beat on different strings. but there are times, for you and me, when all such things agree."Big surprise, Ral's an asshole.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to my pals in the Ral Fuckers discord server <3
> 
> This is my first MtG fic, so please be gentle.

When Ral came to consciousness, there were three things he was aware of.  
Despite how horrible his entire body felt, he was alive.  
1\. He was being carried by someone. He didn't know who it was or what they had saved him from, but he did know that he was offended. He was a genius guildmage and they had him carelessly slung over their shoulder like he was nothing but a worthless sack of grain.  
2\. Whoever it was that was disrespecting him like this was also running from someone or something

3\. He didn't know where they were running to. From his position, all he could see was the ground, a pair of running legs, and an ass that he would think was maybe, possibly, nice if he decided to care about people. 

“Put me down.” The words made the red-hot agony burning in his lungs even brighter, but he continued beating on their back anyways. Beating with one arm, as he realized that the other one really did not want to move.

“One, that's a bad idea for several reasons. Two, you're really, really fucked. I can barely feel you hitting me.”

Ral recognized the voice. It could have been a relief, if the voice didn't belong to Y/N. The planeswalker who popped in and out of his life with zero rhyme or reason, and somehow grew even more annoying each time. Apparently she was no longer satisfied with just touching everything in his lab and asking a million questions, and had escalated to full on kidnapping and possibly murder, unless she was saving him from something.

The kidnapping was definitely more plausible. She did seem pretty obsessed with him at times. And of course, she absolutely would have had to kidnap him to talk to him, because he definitely, 100%, for sure hated her and the many comments she made on his experiments. And what the hell would she even be saving him from? He can take care of himself. 

“Where the fuck are we?” 

“Uhh . . .” Y/N trailed off. “That's a good question.”

“I think I know what's happening here,” Ral began. “You were so desperate for my companionship that you abducted me from my home. The Azorius caught onto you, and you went to a random plane because the Boros were on their way to arrest you.”

Y/N stopped moving, and Ral's body burned as her body shook with laughter and jerked him around. “I don't know whether to be concerned or not. The Ral I know is too smart to come up with such a stupid theory, but he is definitely stupid enough to think I'd go through all that trouble for him.” 

She set him down on a patch of grass, and any hint of joy still left in her voice disappeared as she looked at him. “You're just going to frown at me? I thought you loved my face,” He said. Even his entire body feeling like it was about to give up on him wasn't enough to hold back his tongue. “Not that I'm complaining, your laugh was beginning to scare me. Are you sure you're not a werewolf? Your howling wouldn't be out of place on Innistrad.”

Her expression remained unchanged, and Ral's grew serious too. She always did that horrible howling laugh when he insulted her. And he definitely wasn't aware of that fact because he loved the sound and tried to get it out of her at every opportunity.

“Fuck,” she whispered. “You're looking bad. Really bad.”

If he wasn't so worried, that would have been the perfect opportunity to crack a joke about how he always looked good. 

“Can't you heal me or something?” he asked, in almost a beginning tone. Except it wasn't begging, because Ral is way above begging.

“I guess, maybe,” she said, biting her lip until it nearly bled. “I'm not very good at healing.”

“Just try,” He looked around. Stretched out in front of them was a sparkling lake, and the grass was the perfect color, and pretty soft. Y/N managed to look not awful, even soaked in someone else's blood. At least he would die with some nice scenery. “What do you even have to lose?”

“You,” her tone was dead serious, and her lip quivered as she spoke. His vision was too fuzzy for him to be sure, but it almost looked like there were tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. Why the hell did she care about him so much? And more baffling, why was her sadness tugging on his heartstrings? “There's one thing I want to do first. In case- In case-”

She couldn't finish the sentence, and decided to just brush past it to what she wanted. She kneeled down, and ran a trembling hair through his hair. She leaned her head down and pressed her lips to his. 

He kissed back. (And blamed it on all the blood he had lost, and decided that he must have also injured his head.)

Y/N's lips are the last sensation he's aware of, and as he slips out of consciousness for the second time, he thinks that maybe he can be okay with dying if the trade-off is that he got to experience this.

. . . 

“Oh my god, you're alive!” Y/N is on top of him, nearly squeezing the life out of him as soon as he opens his eyes. “Fuck, I love you.”

Love. Ral doesn't like that she feels that strongly. He especially doesn't like that he actually seriously considers saying it back. And even when he comes to his senses, he doesn't complain that her grip on him is actually causing him pain. In fact, he rests his arm, that does feel just slightly better, on her back.

But he does question her. “I still don't know what happened. And where even are we?”

“We're still in the same plane as when you went unconscious. After healing you, I just dragged us into a cave when it started to get dark,” She pushes the boundaries and tries to figure out what she's allowed to do. Her hand wanders through his hair, and then down across his chest. “I came to Ravnica 'cuz I was bored and wanted to see you. And apparently I came at the perfect time, because your own guild was attacking you. You were already pretty out of it so I just used a spell to give myself some extra strength and ran off once I'd grabbed you.”

Part of him wants to make a snarky comment. A very small part of him wants to thank her. His brain can't decide and words escape him. He hesitantly moves his hand up from her back to her H/C hair and strokes it as she had done to him. 

The grin she gives him makes him want to throw up, in the most perfect way. “I guess this means I owe you one.”

Y/N gives him another kiss. It's soft and sweet, but over nearly as soon as it began. “Let me go back to Ravnica with you. And assuming your guild forgives you, I want to hear about everything you've been working on and whatever it was that got you kicked out.”

“I'm sure they'll forgive me.”

“And I want to be able to visit and interrupt you as often as I want, without you complaining.”

“Now you're pushing it,” Ral says. “But I suppose I can manage. You’re lucky I love you.”

He doesn't realize he said that last part until it was too late. Before he can take it back, Y/N shuts him up with another kiss. With surprisingly few excuses for his actions, he kisses back.


	2. Chapter 2

When Ral came to consciousness, there were three things he was aware of.  
1\. Despite how horrible his entire body felt, he was alive.  
2\. He was being carried by someone. He didn't know who it was or what they had saved him from, but he did know that he was offended. He was a genius guildmage and they had him carelessly slung over their shoulder like he was nothing but a worthless sack of grain.  
3\. Whoever it was that was disrespecting him like this was also running from someone or something.

He didn't know where they were running to. From his position, all he could see was the ground, a pair of running legs, and an ass that he would think was maybe, possibly, nice if he decided to care about people. 

“Put me down.” The words made the red-hot agony burning in his lungs even brighter, but he continued beating on their back anyways. Beating with one arm, as he realized that the other one really did not want to move.

“One, that's a bad idea for several reasons. Two, you're really, really fucked. I can barely feel you hitting me.”

Ral recognized the voice. It could have been a relief, if the voice didn't belong to Y/N. The planeswalker who popped in and out of his life with zero rhyme or reason, and somehow grew even more annoying each time. Apparently he was no longer satisfied with just touching everything in his lab and asking a million questions, and had escalated to full on kidnapping and possibly murder, unless he was saving him from something.

The kidnapping was definitely more plausible. He did seem pretty obsessed with him at times. And of course, he absolutely would have had to kidnap him to talk to him, because he definitely, 100%, for sure hated him and the many comments he made on his experiments. And what the hell would Y/N even be saving him from? He can take care of himself. 

“Where the fuck are we?” 

“Uhh . . .” Y/N trailed off. “That's a good question.”

“I think I know what's happening here,” Ral began. “You were so desperate for my companionship that you abducted me from my home. The Azorius caught onto you, and you went to a random plane because the Boros were on their way to arrest you.”

Y/N stopped moving, and Ral's body burned as his body shook with laughter and jerked him around. “I don't know whether to be concerned or not. The Ral I know is too smart to come up with such a stupid theory, but he is definitely stupid enough to think I'd go through all that trouble for him.” 

As he spoke and giggled, he set him down on a patch of grass. Any hint of joy still left his voice disappeared as Y/N looked at him. “You're just going to frown at me? I thought you loved my face,” He said. Even his entire body feeling like it was about to give up on him wasn't enough to hold back his tongue. “Not that I'm complaining, your laugh was beginning to scare me. Are you sure you're not a werewolf? Your howling wouldn't be out of place on Innistrad.”

His expression remained unchanged, and Ral's grew serious too. He always did that horrible howling laugh when he insulted her. And he definitely wasn't aware of that fact because he loved the sound and tried to get it out of him at every opportunity.

“Fuck,” he whispered. “You're looking bad. Really bad.”

If he wasn't so worried, that would have been the perfect opportunity to crack a joke about how he always looked good. 

“Can't you heal me or something?” he asked, in what is almost a beginning tone. It of course isn't begging, since Ral is too above begging.

“I guess, maybe,” he said, biting his lip until it nearly bled. “I'm not very good at healing.”

“Just try,” He looked around. Stretched out in front of them was a sparkling lake, and the grass was the perfect color, and pretty soft. Y/N, who managed to look not awful, even covered in someone else's blood. At least he would die with some nice scenery. “What do you even have to lose?”

“You,” his tone was dead serious, and his lip quivered as he spoke. Ral's vision was too fuzzy for him to be sure, but it almost looked like there were tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. Why the hell did he care about him so much? And more baffling, why was his sadness tugging on his heartstrings? “There's one thing I want to do first. In case- In case-”

He couldn't finish the sentence, and decided to just brush past it to what he wanted. He kneeled down, and ran a trembling hair through his hair. He leaned his head down and pressed their lips together. 

He kissed back. (And blamed it on all the blood he had lost, and decided that he must have also injured his head.)

Y/N's lips are the last sensation he's aware of, and as he slips out of consciousness for the second time, he thinks that maybe he can be okay with dying if the trade-off is that he got to experience this.

. . . 

“Oh my god, you're alive!” Y/N is on top of him, nearly squeezing the life out of him as soon as he opens his eyes. “Fuck, I love you.”

Love. Ral doesn't like that he feels that strongly. Ral especially doesn't like that he actually seriously considers saying it back. And even when he comes to his senses, he doesn't complain that his grip on him is actually causing him pain. In fact, he rests his arm, that does feel just slightly better, on his back.

But he does question him. “I still don't know what happened. And where even are we?”

“We're still in the same plane as when you went unconscious. After healing you, I just dragged us into a cave when it started to get dark,” He pushes the boundaries and tries to figure out what he's allowed to do. His hand wanders through his hair, and then down across his chest. No complaints. “I came to Ravnica 'cuz I was bored and wanted to see you. And apparently I came at the perfect time, because your own guild was attacking you. You were already pretty out of it so I just used a spell to give myself some extra strength and ran off once I'd grabbed you.”

Part of him wants to make a snarky comment. A very small part of him wants to thank him. His brain can't decide and words escape him. He hesitantly moves his hand up from his back to her H/C hair and strokes it as he had done to him. 

The grin he gives him makes him want to throw up, in the most perfect way. “I guess this means I owe you one.”

Y/N gives him another kiss. It's soft and sweet, but over nearly as soon as it began. “Let me go back to Ravnica with you. And assuming your guild forgives you, I want to hear about everything you've been working on and whatever it was that got you kicked out.”

“I'm sure they'll forgive me.”

“And I want to be able to visit and interrupt you as often as I want, without you complaining.”

“Now you're pushing it,” Ral says. “But I suppose I can manage. You’re lucky I love you.”

He doesn't realize he said that last part until it was too late. Before he can take it back, Y/N shuts him up with another kiss. With surprisingly few excuses for his actions, he kisses back.


End file.
